The different approach to the ticket sales between Whitecaps and Sounders

[RL RCD]

An offer from Seattle Sounders to buy tickets for their 3 matches against Galaxy, Whitecaps, and Timbers. As we can see Seattle Sounders obviously plan to open fully CenturyyLink Field (if necessary) for those 3 games. Quite a difference between Whitecaps and Sounders approach, isn't it?

 

[Bronco]

Seriously man??? You're still not over this???

 

[RL RCD]

Seriously man??? You're still not over this???

I do not see what would be a problem pointing out how two clubs have a different approach to their ticket sales.

 

[cascadesoccer]

 

[mtkb]

its interesting how sensitive those of you on the "intimate atmosphere" bandwagon are...

 

[STD]

We're a close knit group.

Honestly I hate BC place with the upper bowl open. The odd time I let someone convince me to go to a lions regular season game when the lions were getting 30 to 35 thousand with most of the upperbowl open it sucked. I also went to the exhibition game with Beckham where they sold most of the stadium out and compared to last game the atmostphere was way better this time around. I know we are comparing a league game with an exhibition game but it is more than that. I would rather have 20 to 27 thousand Whitecaps fans than 35 thousand Beckham watchers. I would love to see the Caps get to the point they can regularly sell out the lower bowl of 27 thousand and stop there. Just my opinion but RL RCD you keep blaming everthing on Lenarduzzi but remember in terms of attendance and ticket prices we are one of the top clubs in the MLS, add to that we can watch every game on TV and get decent media coverage and I would say they are doing something right. They are not perfect and can do better but until you are willing to take the job and straighten them out we'll have to settle with what we have for now.

 

[RL RCD]

We're a close knit group.

Honestly I hate BC place with the upper bowl open. The odd time I let someone convince me to go to a lions regular season game when the lions were getting 30 to 35 thousand with most of the upperbowl open it sucked. I also went to the exhibition game with Beckham where they sold most of the stadium out and compared to last game the atmostphere was way better. I know we are comparing a league game with an exhibition game but it is more than that. I would rather have 20 to 27 thousand Whitecaps fans than 35 thousand Beckham watchers. I would love to see the Caps get to the point they can regularly sell out the lower bowl of 27 thousand and stop there. Just my opinion but RL RCD you keep blaming everthing on Lenarduzzi but remember in terms of attendance ond ticket prices we are one of the top clubs add to that we can watch every game on TV and get decent media coverage and I would say they are doing something right. They are not perfect but until you are willing to take the job we'll have to settle with what we have for now.

To be honest, I actually started thinking about Whitecaps and their ticket sales when I could not buy 6 tickets to the Galaxy game. I had some friends visiting from Europe and logically they wanted to see a soccer game. A perfect opportunity, Galaxy in town, there is 13,000 season ticket holders so I assumed I could easily buy 6 tickets for that game (in a stadium that has 55,000 seats). But, when I tried I could only see available single-seat tickets priced at $110/ticket +ridiculous TicketMaster charges!!! So, we ended up watching the game on TV and I just could not explain to them how it is possible to announce a sell-out in a stadium that had attendance of 21,000 with 6,000 empty seats in a lower bowl(hidden under the tarp) plus 28,000 empty upper bowl seats hidden behind th ecurtains!

First of all, let me tell you that I perfectly well understand that as long as there are 20,000 people in Vancouver who are ready to buy tickets at the current price structure (in a 55,000-seat stadium where Whitecaps made available only 21,000) there is really no point of addressing the issue I am trying to address.

But, we have all witnessed that after the first season the season tickets sale dropped from 16,500 to 13,000 which is a significant drop (no matter what the reason is). I have to ask myself what will happen if next season the number of season tickets drops below 10,000 and that is why I am pointing out some illogical and ridiculous decisions made by the Whitecaps executives. The most ridiculous one is their wishful thinking that a person who wants to see only David Beckham, for example (and generally does not care about soccer at all) will buy Whitecaps season tickets next season!!! Good luck with that!

Secondly, a lot of TTPers remember some old times when in old BC Place Stadium Whitecaps played in front of over 60,000 fans (1983). I believe that Whitecaps should try to accomplish that kind of attendance (or close to) every single game (no matter how hard that may look at this point). Or, at least, they should plan that kind of attendance for some games during the season.

Thirdly, I know a group of young students who have attended a few games during Whitecaps inaugural MLS season but then stopped attending.One of them said that even $20 ticket (that they were paying) was a lot for some students. If some of those guys could not afford regularly $20 for a ticket then I have to start wondering if Whitecaps price tickets are priced properly.
For example, the cheapest season tickets for Real Madrid fans are around CAD300.00 (North and South side, lower stands) or CAD15.79 per game.
Compare that price (La Liga, one of the most popular clubs in the World with a lot of superstars) with the prices a soccer fan pays to watch MLS in Vancouver and you will see how Whitecaps price structure does not make any sense (and could result in a further drop in season ticket sales down the road).

Having said that, if you ask me and if I was in a position to make some decisions, I’d really offer $5.00/ticket to all students (high school and university). The club could assign one/few section(s) only for students with extremely popular prices. What Whitecaps do now is that they offer $20 tickets (single game) to the youth soccer clubs in Lower Mainland. Whenever this happens often whole families attend (4-5 members times $20 plus parking, drinks and so on will cost that family well over $150 for one game). How many times will the same family attend Whitecaps game if they spend over $150 for one game? One game a month!? Maybe!
So, the goal should be to raise such interest in Whitecaps where that (average) family would like to come to see every/most game(s) so why not reduce the prices in such a big stadium? That is what so many other clubs around the World do. You start from the bottom to create a huge fan base and eventually, down the road, you slowly increase the ticket prices based on a demand.

Walk-in fans are important too and Whitecaps completely forget that fact (and season ticket fans should logically pay less per game, will have advantage buying play-off tickets, and so on).

Unfortunately, Whitecaps approached this from totally different angle. They figured out the ticket price they wanted (basically compared to some other MLS teams) and then started creating an artificial demand by limiting the number of seats. We all know how even Southisiders complained initially about the ticket prices because their seats were more expensive than some other (better positioned) seats. The Whitecaps logic (in that case) was to get as much money as possible instead of trying to please that group with exceptionally low prices and basically reward them for their attendance all those years while playing at Swangard.

So, that is basically my problem with the Whitecaps (plus ridiculous story about an intimate soccer atmosphere which is just a bunch of BS). To be honest, after watching a few games this season (and a few during the first season) I was thinking about buying season tickets for the next season but after this episode with Galaxy and after I realized what kind of game Whitecaps are playing with their fans I decided not to do it. I know, as a fact, that I am not the only one who thinks that way.

 

[akslop]

baby steps

 

[cascadesoccer]

I do agree that families, and students should be able to take in games for a cheaper price. However if the Caps did lower prices to $5 tickets for students, families etc, would the club make enough money to keep going, than if they kept the prices at what they are now. I believe when you have clubs such as Madrid, their world marketing and sponsors alone could make the club enough money that they wouldn't have to charge for seats. But being the Caps, we aren't really in that global market, where the lower costs would do us much benefit with where we sit now.

 

[johnnybluenose]

There is a cost benefit and spinoffs to everything.

If you offer a $10 ticket, who buys it? So a Student buys a block of tix for $10 and resells them to hooligans, then what?

The policing and investment is massively different between moving a hoarde of 20k vs 60k... then you have parking, traffic, and transit.

I'm all for the Caps keeping it capped at the moment until a critical mass happens, then you remove the tarps and wait for the next critical mass, then you open up one bank of upper deck leaving the other portions of the upper deck under sails, etc etc etc.

like Polska said: Baby Steps.

Dead Horse Dead

 

[italian_stallion21]

As for prices, could be worse. Went to a Galaxy game 5 years ago for my honeymoon, and it was $55 a ticket. We were in the 2nd to last row. I will never complain about any ticket prices for the Whitecaps.


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[STD]

So what was the end result? Short marriage or coolest wife ever

 

[Regs]

So you went to see Landycakes for your honeymoon?

Your wife deserves you for going along with it.

 

[akslop]

As for prices, could be worse. Went to a Galaxy game 5 years ago for my honeymoon, and it was $55 a ticket. We were in the 2nd to last row. I will never complain about any ticket prices for the Whitecaps.


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Please tell me you at least took her out for a Happy Meal.

P.s Thx for the new sig

 

[italian_stallion21]

Coolest wife ever for sure. Although the beer was $8 and she kept spilling them......


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[badknees7]

Sad to say,but soccer will never be a big league sport in this city.Unfortunately, the NASL blew something that could have had staying power.Hockey crazy town,plain and simple!

 

[johnnybluenose]

badknees7, I wonder if that's what people were saying in the late 70's and all the 80's when the Canucks drew flies and you could get $15 tickets to games from Safeway... while the Lions were packing BC Place and/or Empire and the Caps were filling Empire/BC Place. Was Vancouver then just a football/roundball town and hockey would never have any chance of being "Big League"

It's more fair to say (imho) that Vancouver is a fickle sports town full of casual fans that think they're "hardcore" they follow the hometeam yet have no grip on reality when it comes to other teams in the league. eg: How many Canucks fans ever watch other teams games? How many of these "hardcore" fans have centre ice and watch the odd Rangers/Devils game, or Oil/Flames games or Philly/Pens games? I wonder how many Caps fans watched that epic Portland v LAG game last week?

 

[STD]

Better keep that horse around because Lenarduzzi just said they are going to maintain their ticket policy for playoffs. Imagine if we have a home playoff game against LA good times ahead. Regs should pay the caps for all the extra traffic his site is going to get.

 

[RL RCD]

Better keep that horse around because Lenarduzzi just said they are going to maintain their ticket policy for playoffs. Imagine if we have a home playoff game against LA good times ahead.

That could easily happen: "The No. 4 team in each conference will then host the No. 5 team in its conference in a single-elimination game for the right to face its respective conference’s top seed in the Conference Semifinals."

And they would keep the number of tickets available to 21,000! That is insane and I am quite sure it would just alienate a lot of people and turn them away completely from Whitecaps.

I assume that every season ticket holder would rather see (eventually) 55,000 watching that game than game being played in front of 21,000 with the tarps and the curtains.

 

[Luch]

Hang tight RL.. If the Caps end up hosting LA first round, I may have a pair of tickets to offer you... at a Sicoli price of course